President Donald Trump reported that Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte will now serve as the countryʼs Director of National Intelligence.
Trump wrote about this on the social network Truth Social.
He noted Pultʼs experience in managing the "most sensitive" area of US life — real estate markets. Despite the new appointment, Pult will retain his position as head of FHFA and chairman of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Previously, since February 2025, the US National Intelligence Service was headed by Tulsi Gabbard. But in May of this year, she resigned, explaining her decision by her husbandʼs illness. Although the media wrote that the real reason for Gabbardʼs resignation was her disagreements with the White House over views on the war with Iran.
Bill Pulte, who will now temporarily replace Gabbard, is known as one of Trumpʼs most loyal allies, Reuters notes. After Trump appointed him to head the FHFA in March 2025, Pulte began accusing Trumpʼs opponents of mortgage fraud. In particular, New York Attorney General Letitia James, California Senator Adam Schiff and Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook.
Although Pulte has no experience in intelligence, he will now lead 18 agencies that make up the US intelligence community, with a combined budget of more than $115 billion for fiscal year 2026.
Among them are the leading foreign intelligence service, the Central Intelligence Agency, as well as the National Security Agency, a vast organization that eavesdrops on foreign communications and helps protect the United States from cyberattacks.
Democrats in the US Congress have already condemned Pulteʼs appointment. Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer called Pulte a "partisan thug".
And Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Pulteʼs appointment "clearly demonstrates that Trump is not looking for an intelligence leader who will stick to the facts or speak truth to power, but rather someone who will be willing to shape intelligence to the presidentʼs wishes, regardless of the cost to the American people".
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